Before the Legend
by VibeQuake
Summary: Before Perry was OWCA's top agent, he was just an ordinary platypus agent. This is his backstory, including his first mission against Doofenshmirtz and his initial dislike of a certain COWCA agent. Will include moments from the show and moments mentioned in previous stories but can be read as standalone.
1. Arrival

**This story takes place five years before the show, and seven years before Field Trip. It will later include moments from the show and moments mentioned in previous stories.**

…

"I think Patty has a crush on me. Do you think Patty has a crush on me? I really think that Patty has a crush on me. Do you know why I think Patty has a crush on me?"

A two-year-old Pinky the Chihuahua was smacking his head against the wall. "No-I-don't-but-I'm-sure-you're-going-to-tell-me-regardless-of-how-I-respond," he said, punctuating almost every word with a hit against the wall.

The young orange turtle was lying on his back, dreamily staring at the sky. "She actually wanted to partner up with me in sparring yesterday. _Nobody_ wants to partner up with me in sparring."

"Yeeaah…" Pinky gave his best friend a look. "Terry, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm pretty sure she only partnered up with you because Peter wasn't there."

"Peter? What's Mr OWCA's-Next-Top-Agent got to do with anything?"

"He's Patty's boyfriend. So I hope you don't have too much affection for Patty because they've said they're going to be mates when they're older."

"Peter has a girlfriend already?" Terry rolled onto his stomach. "He's two years old."

"Okay, well, maybe it's a bit of a childish fancy, but true love can strike at any age," said Pinky fairly.

All of a sudden, a skinny little meerkat came skittering into the otherwise-empty training room. "Guys, guys!"

"Hey Ridelle," said Pinky. "What's up?"

"There's a new arrival! A platypus!"

Pinky and Terry exchanged a surprised look, before they got up and hurried after Ridelle as the two-year-old meerkat skittered out of the room. They hurried out onto the grass of the OWCA lawn and saw Major Monogram standing there, a small teal platypus hiding behind his legs, his eyes squinting against the early morning sun.

"Agents T and P," said Major Monogram as Terry and Pinky approached. "This is Perry. I want you to help train him."

Terry and Pinky stared. "Where did he come from?" said Terry.

Monogram paused. "Do you know agents Pearl and Patrick?"

"The two platypuses? Yeah," replied Pinky.

"Unfortunately, we lost them in the recent attack on OWCA HQ."

Both Terry and Pinky gasped. "But I thought there were no fatalities!" Terry said in shock.

Monogram shook his head. "Regardless, this is their son. He hasn't had any training but he's going to start his basic training and be assigned a nemesis like everyone else when he's four."

"So you want us to help him out until he's settled in?" asked Terry.

Monogram nodded. "That's right." He looked down at the shy platypus. "Go on, Perry."

Perry shuffled out from behind Monogram and slowly drew nearer to Pinky and Terry. "Hi," he said quietly.

Pinky smiled as he approached the small platypus. "Hi, Perry. I'm Pinky, and this is Terry."

Pinky placed his hand behind Perry's back and gently pushed him forward. "How about we show you around OWCA?"

"Okay," Perry said shyly.

Terry and Pinky led Perry towards the OWCA building.

…

Cassie the Cat, Ravi the Rabbit, Peter the Panda, Patty the Panda, Victoria the Dalmatian, and Jodie the Jaguar were the stereotypical "cool kids". Even at age two, they always hung out together and chatted.

"Did I tell you I broke the climbing record?" asked Cassie mock-modestly.

"Not at all," said Peter sarcastically, though he was grinning. "I'm sure you certainly haven't told us ten times in the last day."

"Well, I'm the best at running," boasted Jodie. "It's because I'm part cheetah."

"No, it's because you're a jaguar." Patty good-humorously threw an empty coke can at Jodie. "Pandas aren't great at running. We're great at climbing too but apparently not as good as cats."

"You want to have a race right now?" asked Peter. "Right now? You, me, and Cassie?"

"Bring it on," Cassie grinned. "The rigging or the climbing wall?"

"I'm terrible at the rigging," said Patty. "So the climbing wall."

The three animals took to their feet and hurtled out the door. Jodie, Ravi, and Victoria, shaking their heads and grinning, followed.

They found Peter, Patty, and Cassie by the climbing wall. It was a hundred feet tall, but it wasn't like an ordinary climbing wall. There were no regular handholds, and it looked almost like a regular wall of a building.

The three animals took hold of the small handholds that were on the wall. Jodie prepared to start off the race, but then Pinky, Terry, and a small teal platypus came up to them.

"Hey, guys," said Pinky. "Whatcha doin'?"

"We're about to have a race," replied Cassie. "And I'm about to win said race."

"Ooh, a climbing wall!" said the platypus, staring up the wall. "Can I join in?"

"Who are you?" Cassie asked, feeling her two-year-old heart leap slightly.

"I'm Perry the Platypus. I'm just starting my training."

"Maybe you shouldn't, then," said Patty doubtfully.

"He wouldn't be able to keep up anyway," said Peter rather rudely.

A kind of fire lit up in Perry's eyes, and he slowly walked to the bottom of the wall and put his hand on the nearest bracket.

Peter shrugged condescendingly. "All right then. But don't blame me when he falls."

To start the race, Jodie yelled, "Three…two…one…GO!"

Cassie began clawing her way upwards. All she focused on was the adrenaline rush as she climbed higher and higher. She could hear Pinky and Terry cheering Perry on from down below her.

When she reached the top, she swung herself up and sat on top of the wall. She saw Perry as he flipped up to join her. Peter came next, then Patty.

Peter was panting. "How did you manage to beat me?" he snapped at Perry. "You're a beginner!"

"Evidently not," grinned Patty, who was also panting.

"I'm still the best," Cassie asserted.

"For now," Patty said, still grinning widely. "I think we've got the makings of OWCA's next top agent here."

…

 **Who loves cutesie baby Perry?**


	2. An Unforgettable Stab

**Reference to When Worlds Collide in this chapter *high fives self***

…

"You ready to go up a setting?" Pinky asked.

Perry gave a thumbs up, grinning. He lowered himself in readiness.

"He's already on setting five," Terry whispered to the Chihuahua. "I can't even get past setting four."

"He's certainly good," agreed Pinky.

"I can't get past three," added Cassie, who was standing with them. "But cats are better at climbing than jumping."

"Yeah, I guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses," said Pinky.

He switched on the machine.

 _Volgen nu!_ sang the two robots.

 _One dutch, two dutch_

 _Queens of the double dutch_

 _We skip better than you by that much_

 _Watch our feet, our moves are sweet_

 _Our double dutchin' won't be beat_

While they sung, they twirled the Double Dutch ropes around in a complicated pattern and a fairly fast speed. Perry didn't miss a beat, though. The robots got through the verse six times before the two-year-old finally tripped and fell flat on his face. Pinky hurriedly stopped the machine. "That was pretty impressive," commented Terry as Cassie and Pinky helped Perry up.

To their surprise, Perry immediately pressed the reset button on the side of the machine and got back into positon.

"Same setting?" asked Pinky.

"No. Put it up to the highest."

"The highest?" repeated Cassie. "Perry, that's level ten; you only just completed level five!"

"Setting ten, please," Perry said firmly.

Cassie exchanged a look with Pinky and Terry. Pinky shrugged and turned the dial on the machine up to ten.

"Stop it immediately if he looks like he's going to hurt himself," Cassie demanded.

Pinky nodded. "Of course."

He gingerly switched on the machine.

 _Volgen nu!_ sang the two robots.

 _One dutch, two dutch_

 _Queens of the double dutch_

 _We skip better than you by that much_

 _Watch our feet, our moves are sweet_

 _Our double dutchin' won't be beat_

All three agents were scared for Perry at first, but as the song went on, they relaxed. Perry's footwork mesmerised them. He was Double-Dutching like his life depended on it, and it was clear he was amazing at it. He almost looked like he was flying.

The machine was designed to come to a stop after twenty rounds of the song. Somehow, Perry managed to get to the end of those twenty rounds. He collapsed against the ropes, clearly exhausted.

Cassie rushed towards him and threw her arms around his neck. "That was amazing, Perry!"

"Thanks," panted Perry. "I wanted to get my stamina up."

"Well, it certainly worked," Cassie smiled. She linked arms with Perry. "Want to go for a walk?"

"Sure."

Leaving Pinky and Terry behind, they strolled out into the sunshine. Cassie dragged Perry in the direction of the climbing wall.

"Remember when you first arrived two weeks ago, when you kicked Peter's butt at this?" she said.

"I wouldn't say I kicked anyone's butt…"

"No, you did. Peter's the best at _everything_ except climbing. You've been coming first at everything we've done, except climbing, which is the only thing I'm best at." Cassie suddenly looked concerned. "You won't beat me in climbing, will you?"

Perry also looked concerned. "I don't know, Cassie. I want to become OWCA's best agent but at the same time I really value your friendship and I don't want to lose you as a friend."

"Promise you won't beat me at climbing," Cassie said pleadingly. "Please. It's the only thing I'm good at."

Perry looked into his friend's face. "Okay," he consented. "I won't."

However, neither of them knew how short a time that promise would last.

…

Two days later, there was a climbing wall challenge. It was the top three: Cassie, Perry, and Peter, racing each other. Whoever won would be named best at climbing.

Perry was in turmoil. He thought he could go faster than Cassie but he didn't want to. Well, he wanted to be the best at climbing so that he could be the best at everything, but he also didn't want to lose Cassie's friendship.

Eventually, he decided that he would simply try his best and if that best meant he would win, then so be it.

Carl started the race. As soon as the clapper went off, Perry climbed as fast as he could. He actually felt confident that Cassie would beat him. He could try his best and still be recognised as the best at everything else.

He climbed with all his might and swung up to the top of the tower, expecting to see Cassie there. Instead, he watched as Cassie climbed up at least five seconds after him and sat next to him.

The look on her face was beyond hurt.

They waited until Peter had climbed up before the times were released. Cassie hoped with all her heart that Perry had not beaten her time of 1:33:21.

The time came up on the scoreboard. Peter's first: 2:09:87. Then Cassie's: 1:39:05.

Then Perry's:

1:32:11.

Perry and Cassie both felt their hearts drop. Cassie's hands flew to cover her mouth. Perry put his paw on her shoulder but she jerked away from him so violently that she nearly slipped right off the tower. Perry reached towards her but she actually hissed at him, like a domestic cat.

"I don't need your help!" she spat. "You lied to me! You promised you wouldn't take the most precious thing in the world away from me but you did! You liar!"

"Cassie-."

"Don't "Cassie" me!" the black tabby cat hissed, tears in her eyes. "I really liked you! I had a _crush_ on you!"

Perry stared at her. "Cassie…"

"And it's easy for me to admit that now because I don't have feelings for you anymore! You _promised_ you wouldn't beat me!"

"That's what this is about?" Peter scoffed.

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" screamed Cassie, making Peter scoot backwards in alarm.

"Cassie, please calm down!" Perry begged.

"I won't calm down!" hissed Cassie. "You promised me and you broke your promise! I had no friends until I found that I was best at climbing! That gave me a link in with the cool kids like Peter, and for _once_ I felt like I belonged! I had _friends!_ I was the speedy cat who unforgettably broke the climbing record! Now I'm the forgettable cat who was beaten at the only thing she was ever good at! I've now lost my link to my friends, and I'm going to go back to being a nobody! _I hate you!"_

Perry felt like he had been stabbed. Cassie swung over the side of the climbing wall and started climbing down. Peter gave Perry a half-smug look. "You broke your promise?"

Perry turned to him, and Peter was shocked to see the little platypus crying. "I did!" he wailed. "I promised her that I wouldn't beat her record but I did! I betrayed her…"

Peter awkwardly patted Perry on the back. "How about we climb down?"

So they did. Pinky and Terry were there to meet Perry. "What happened?" Pinky asked. "Why is Cassie so upset? Is it because you beat her?"

"It's because I promised not to beat her record but I did," sobbed Perry.

Pinky and Terry exchanged a glance and then they moved in to hug the upset platypus.

"I've lost her friendship," Perry cried. "She hates me!"

"You have us, Perry," said Terry reassuringly. "We'll always be here for you."

…

 **:( think Cassie's just a diva? Or are you feeling sorry for her?**


	3. A New Family

**I know Perry's naming by the Flynn-Fletchers isn't quite the same as the show but I thought it was too much of a coincidence if Perry's parents gave him the exact name that the Flynn-Fletchers would choose too :/**

…

Perry could not be more excited.

At four years old, he was finally in the pet shop. He was going to be adopted! He was going to have a loving family to take him in, and he was also going to be assigned a nemesis! He couldn't wait.

However, after a few days in the pet shop, he felt very depressed. Many kids had either run right past him or looked at him and made disgusted faces. He felt very sad. He just didn't understand why people didn't like him. He was cute and fluffy, and he had unfocused his eyes in the cutest way possible.

Then, one day, two small boys, an older girl, and their parents came into the shop. "Come on, kids," said the dad. "Pick out any pet you want."

The mother lifted up the red-haired boy and showed him a cute cat. "Look, Phineas! This one's looking at you!"

The father did the same to the other boy and showed him a cute dog. "And this one's looking at you, Ferb!"

Perry felt even more depressed. He was always going to be shunted aside in favour of Calvin the Cat or Danny the Dog.

Then he heard a small boy's voice saying, "Ferb! This one's looking at both of us at the same time!"

Perry knew that meant him. Only he could unfocus his eyes and give the impression that he was looking at two people at the same time. He gave a hopeful chatter.

He heard the mother go, "aww."

The young girl's voice said, "That thing? You're kidding, right?"

Perry hoped they would adopt him.

Carl in his female store employee disguise came over to them. "Is there something I can do for you?" he asked.

"Ah, yes, we'd like that one, please," said the dad.

"You'd like to adopt the platypus?" said Carl in surprise.

 _Don't ruin this for me, Carl._

"Oh, is that what it is?" said the dad mildly. "Well, yes! May we have him, please?"

"Okay…"

Carl went off to get the adoption papers.

"What would you even _name_ a platypus?" the girl snapped.

Phineas and Ferb both said, "Bartholomew!"

"Maybe he already has a name," suggested the dad.

Perry chattered, hoping that Carl would tell them his name.

When the intern did come back, the dad asked, "Does he have a name?"

"Yes, his name is Perry," Carl answered. "But you can change it if you wish."

"Perry…" repeated Phineas. "I like it!"

As soon as the adoption papers were signed, Perry was put in a carrier and carried out the shop by the Flynn-Fletcher family.

On the way home, they stopped at a photo shop that was doing a special photo deal and had a photo taken of Phineas, Ferb, and Perry. While that was happening, the dad, Lawrence, went out to buy something.

When they got to Perry's new house, Linda and Lawrence presented Perry with his gift: a golden locket in the shape of his paw. Inside it there were the pictures of the two boys and Perry.

The first afternoon at his new house was spent being played with by the two boys, whom Perry was already beginning to love.

In Phineas and Ferb's bedroom, Perry was given a little bed to sleep in. As he curled up in it for the night, he nearly cried at the kindness of his new owners. He opened the locket and looked at the three pictures inside. Phineas, Ferb, and Perry.

He was part of the family. He was Perry Flynn-Fletcher.

…

 **Slightly shorter chapter but I'm going to focus on Perry's assignment to Doof and his first mission next chapter :)**


	4. First Missions and New Nemeses

**TIME FOR PERRY'S FIRST MISSION!**

…

Perry had been assigned to Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz, an evil scientist who lived in the penthouse of a massive building that he owned.

Major Monogram had told him that his daily routine would be fairly simple: enter lair, get mission, go to building, thwart plan, come home. It did sound very simple to Perry, but the platypus couldn't help feeling a little down that this was going to be his routine _every day_ of _every week_ of _every month_ of _every year._ He wondered if there would ever be variation.

His first mission seemed simple enough: Major Monogram had told Perry that Doofenshmirtz was simply building a shrink-inator, and that Perry needed to go and destroy it.

As Perry jet-packed towards the Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated building, he felt excited. His first mission! With his new nemesis! Not even Peter the Panda had been assigned a nemesis yet. A fact that Perry would be sure to throw in his rival's face.

He burst in through the window, letting the jetpack fly away. An older man dressed in a lab coat was tinkering with a large and menacing-looking laser. _That must be the shrink-inator._

"And…done!"

The man, who had a Germanic accent (was that Drusselstein?), turned round and spotted Perry, giving a rather high-pitched squeak of fright.

"Man, don't sneak up on a guy like that!" The guy quickly pressed a button on the wall, making a cage fall down on Perry, who initially panicked, before forcing himself to stay calm.

"Now who the heck are you?"

Perry took his spy badge out of his hat and showed it to Doofenshmirtz, who peered at it. ""Spy"…? Ah, you're my new nemesis, Perry the Platypus. I really should have guessed that by the fact that you're a…you know…a platypus. Anyway, I guess I should introduce myself."

He paused and thought for a moment. "I prepared a musical number for this moment but… we've only just met so I guess I'll save the Broadway-style musical numbers for another day. So anyway, I'm Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz, evil scientist."

Perry gave a chatter.

"Whoa, that was good!" Doofenshmirtz laughed. "What was that?"

Perry chattered again.

"Huh, I guess that's the noise platypuses make?" Doofenshmirtz shrugged. "Anyhoo, this is my invention: the shrink-inator!" Dramatic music played and Doofenshmirtz made a dramatic gesture. A slightly awkward pause followed this. "I would explain what it does, but I think that's rather obvious. So basically, what I'm going to do is aim this puppy at City Hall and shrink it. Then I'm going to move it to this piece of land that _I_ own on the edge of Danville and re-grow it, and since City Hall will be on _my_ land, that will automatically make me the mayor of Danville! Then I can write my own laws, like one declaring me the ruler of the ENTIRE TRI-STATE AREA!"

He spread his arms to the sky and laughed maniacally.

Perry was wondering if this was a joke. After all, the plan was not terribly evil. Of course, it would be bad if he succeeded, but it wasn't as if he was planning to hurt or kill people. Also, where on earth did this guy get his information from? Moving the location of City Hall did not automatically make the person who owned the land the mayor.

Perry looked in his hat and found his emergency tools. He took out the little saw and cut his way out of the cage. Doofenshmirtz was pondering the spelling of some random word and hadn't noticed. Perry wondered for a moment if he should really attack Doofenshmirtz with a lot of force. After all, he looked like he wouldn't be able to fight back very well.

However, Doofenshmirtz turned and spotted him before he could decide. "P-Perry the Platypus! How did you escape?"

Perry held up the little saw.

"You have your own tools?" Doofenshmirtz slapped his forehead. "Should've seen _that_ coming. You are a secret agent platypus after all."

He grabbed a wrench from the base of his machine and swung it with considerable force at Perry, who backflipped to dodge it. He grabbed a screwdriver from the side, and the two had an intense tool fight.

"Wow, you're good at this," commented Doofenshmirtz, parrying yet another blow from Perry.

Since the wrench was rather stronger than the screwdriver, Doofenshmirtz eventually managed to hit the latter out of Perry's hand. It flew away and hit the wall.

"Ha HA!" Doofenshmirtz pointed the wrench like a sword at Perry, who pushed off with his feet, kicked the evil scientist in the chin, and flipped over, landing back on his feet.

Doofenshmirtz dropped the wrench and fell over backwards. Perry leapt, pushed off from Doofenshmirtz's chest, and jumped onto the machine. He searched for a way to disarm it.

"No! Don't push the self-destruct button!" Doofenshmirtz yelled.

Perry blinked. Sure enough, Doofenshmirtz had installed a self-destruct button on the device. He pressed it, and the device began shaking. Perry quickly leapt off it and ran to the window. He glanced back and wondered briefly if he should save Doofenshmirtz from the explosion. Then he quickly activated his hang-glider and flew away from the building.

Just after the explosion sounded, he heard Doofenshmirtz's voice yell, "CURSE YOU, PERRY THE PLATYPUS!"

 _I have a feeling I'm going to be hearing that a lot over my career,_ Perry grinned to himself.

And he did.

What he couldn't have predicted, however, was how much he would grow to care for Heinz Doofenshmirtz, to the point where losing him made Perry very depressed.

…

 **I know that in It's About Time, Doof says he first met his nemesis when Perry was hiding behind the mailbox, but I thought this would be more fitting. Sorry if you wanted to see that, but I am acknowledging that I didn't write it exactly how it was said it happened in the show.**

 **Also, that last line is a foreshadow for the next chapter I:} anyone guess what the next chapter will be?**


	5. When Friends Were Enemies

**Things may be different in this chapter to the main show. Ugh, you know what? If something is different in any chapter to the main show, just assume it's on purpose. Okay? I'm tired of writing that for each chapter.**

…

"Good luck, Agent P," said Carl, the intern.

As Perry headed over to Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, he couldn't help feeling a pang of worry for his boss, who had been frozen like a statue. But if there was one thing he had learnt from five years of battling Doofenshmirtz, it was that the effects of the evil scientist's –inators could always be undone. Perry was sure that Major Monogram would be fine. Anyway, Perry was going to go battle Doofenshmirtz now, and that always cheered him up.

However, when he popped up in the pool of Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, he saw the shadow of his nemesis, who looked like he was fighting someone else. Perry slammed the door open to see Doofenshmirtz holding a smoking laser. His nemesis gasped. "Perry the Platypus! I-uh…I-uh…uh…" He quickly hid the laser behind his back. "There's no one else here! I-I mean, w-what are you doing here, Perry the Platypus?"

Perry narrowed his eyes. If there really wasn't anyone else there, then Doofenshmirtz should have remembered that what Perry was doing here was coming for their daily battle.

Perry heard a rattling sound coming from the closet. Perry glared questioningly at Doofenshmirtz, who chuckled nervously and said, "I-I have mice?"

Perry stormed across the room towards the closet, which made Doofenshmirtz panic. "I-I wouldn't go in there if I were you!"

Perry yanked open the door and saw the smug face of his worst enemy at OWCA.

Peter the Panda.

Perry took a staggering step back, feeling like he was about to throw up. It didn't help that Doofenshmirtz had begun babbling, "Perry the Platypus, I swear, I've never seen this secret agent-looking panda before!"

Perry shakily pointed to the panda paw print on Doofenshmirtz's face. The evil scientist paused awkwardly.

"Well, there's a panda in my closet and a panda paw print on my cheek…but it's not what you think! W-we're not enemies, we're just b-bad friends!"

Perry put the most wounded expression on his face. Doofenshmirtz sighed.

"Sorry, Perry the Platypus. I didn't want you to find out this way." He took a breath. "Okay, here it is. Peter the Panda is my new nemesis."

Perry felt like he had just been stabbed in the gut. He turned shakily to look at Peter, who nodded smugly. Even if Perry had been wearing his proper translator, he would not have been able to speak. A lump rose in his throat and he looked back at Doofenshmirtz, waiting for an explanation.

He was given one. "We met at an evil genius expo in Seattle, and, well, me and Peter, we instantly disliked each other. And then, he foiled a little evil scheme of mine. And, I didn't plan it that way, it just happened."

Peter's smirk had disappeared, and now he just looked awkward. Doofenshmirtz must have sensed this because he said, "Peter the Panda, be a dear and go get us a soda."

As the panda walked off, Doofenshmirtz continued speaking to Perry. "It's not that I don't hate you anymore, I do! But look, I-I just think it's time for us to, you know, take a break and start fighting other people."

Peter came back with a soda, which he gave to Doofenshmirtz, who sipped it. "Thank you, Peter the Panda. I'd offer you one, Perry the Platypus, but I-I think it's better if we just have a clean break. Don't you?"

Perry didn't want a clean break. He didn't want an anything break. All he wanted was to continue coming to DEI and fighting Doofenshmirtz, his nemesis, his _only_ nemesis, but that didn't seem to be an option anymore.

"So, where was I? Oh, yes." He adopted an evil pose. "Peter the Panda, you think you have outwitted me!"

Perry blinked. Both Doofenshmirtz and Peter stared at him. Then the former began shooing Perry towards the door.

"Perry the Platypus, you're—you're making this harder than it needs to be. Go on, it's over now."

Perry pointed at the –inator in the corner.

"Oh, that? That's a Freeze-Inator ray but, uh, I-I don't want to explain it again. I just gave the whole spiel to Peter. But, don't worry. He's stopping me." He pushed Perry out the door. "He's-he's got it well in hand. Goodbye."

He shut the door. Perry stared at it for a moment before turning and sadly walking away.

"Curse you, Peter the Panda!"

As soon as he heard those words, Perry realised it was over. His nemesis had abandoned him and got a new nemesis without even telling him until it was done. He felt like crying but he didn't until he was out on the street, where, typically, it was raining. Perry could almost hear the depressing song playing as he took his last look at Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated. He turned and caught sight of the small building behind him.

The Better Panda restaurant.

Even Danville was mocking him.

He sat down on the sidewalk, feeling the rain soaking him, and just cried. He really did care about Heinz Doofenshmirtz, and seeing him fighting someone else really hurt.

Not just anyone: Peter the Panda. Perry had thought that Peter had had his own nemesis, but apparently not. Apparently Peter was free enough to steal Perry's nemesis. Not only that, but Major Monogram must have known about it too. No agent was allowed to reassign themselves; they had to go through Major Monogram first.

Perry felt a slight pang of anger over his sadness. If Major Monogram thought it okay to replace Perry without even telling him, let along asking him, first, then Perry thought it okay to turn in his hat without telling or asking Major Monogram first.

When he got down to his lair, the monitor was still on. The swishing of the door alerted Carl to the fact that Perry was back in his lair. The intern watched as the platypus went to a wall cavity and placed his hat on the bust. He sadly watched the glass case come down.

But at the last minute, Perry snatched his hat back. He put it away where he always put it, and decided to go for a walk to clear his head before he decided whether to resign or not.

And it was lucky he did, for when he went out, he was found by a representative for Dr Feelbetter's show, where he reconciled with Doofenshmirtz and typically foiled his evil scheme. And as Doofenshmirtz yelled, "CURSE YOU, PERRY THE PLATPYUS!" for the thousandth time, Perry felt happy that things were back to normal.

But what would not be normal for a long time was his hatred of Peter the Panda, who had stolen his nemesis from him.

…

 **Who feels super sorry for Perry? Luckily, it all works out in the end :)**


	6. Peaceful Reflection

**I would tell you when this chapter takes place in regard to the show, but if you read the first paragraph, it'll become obvious ;)**

…

As Perry descended in the elevator to his lair, he had time to reflect. This was the first truly peaceful moment he had had since early this morning. The day had seemed like it had gone on forever. So much had happened: going through the portal, meeting the boys' other-dimension selves, getting captured twice, nearly dying several times, falling nearly into lava, going clockwise round dimensions, battling an army of Normbots.

Revealing his secret identity to the two people he loved most.

Phineas's reaction had broken Perry's heart. Not that he had been expecting any other reaction. Phineas had been understandably hurt, confused, and angry. Ferb, though. The other boy barely ever talked, but Perry had almost literally felt the waves of disappointment and pain radiating from Ferb. That had almost destroyed him.

Yet, he had had to remain strong and vigilant through his own pain. The knowledge that now he had blown his own cover, he would never see the boys ever again. He had had to endure so much anger from Phineas, with the knowledge that if he had just decided to use his proper translator that morning, he would have been able to explain that he was not using them, he really did love them, and why exactly he had kept his identity a secret from them.

But he was glad, in the end. Phineas and Ferb had stepped up to save the city. Not only that, but they had forgiven him enough to try and save him. And he had shared an adventure with them. Even if that was going to be the last time he would ever have a day like that, he was glad it had happened once. He had been able to be himself with Phineas and Ferb for a day, and he was happy.

Candace and Doofenshmirtz had exceeded his expectations. Candace had been understandably confused and scared at first, but in the "doom" chamber, she had helped them escape. Doofenshmirtz had started the day on the wrong side and come to the right, even if that was only because his counterpart had doomed him. He had even saved Phineas, Ferb, and Perry's lives from his other-dimension self. If it weren't for him, they would have been crushed by the giant other-dimension Doofenshmirtz robot.

The doom-chamber…Perry knew he was going to have nightmares about that for a while. Not just because he himself almost died, but because he nearly lost four people he cared about: Phineas, Ferb, Candace, and Doofenshmirtz. The scariest moment in his entire life was when Phineas had told him to let go, and Perry hadn't been sure whether he would rather let go or show Phineas that he didn't trust him. That had been so scary for Perry, but Phineas was very smart, loyal, and the most trustworthy person possibly in the world, so Perry had trusted him. And that had saved all of their lives.

Perry got to the bottom of the elevator and walked across the floor to the computer. After checking he was alone, he took out the camera from his fedora and went through the photos he had taken. If nothing else, they would serve as a reminder for Perry of the amazing adventure that he had shared with the boys.

And maybe one day, he would be able to show them the photos and get their memories back.

…

 **I love writing passive chapters like this :)**


	7. Completely Sidetracked

When Perry dropped down into his lair, he saw Major Monogram onscreen. Yawning, he gave a limp salute.

"Sorry to call you in so late, Agent P, but I have an unusual mission for you."

Perry immediately perked up. Missions that didn't involve the same old routine with his nemesis were often a very pleasant challenge. Especially since Peter the Panda never got sent on missions that varied from their usual routine.

"It's in Seattle," Major Monogram began, immediately making Perry sulky. He didn't want to have to operate in his mortal OWCA enemy's hometown.

"Don't give me that look," Major Monogram said reproachfully. "Anyway, we have intel that a heist is going to be carried out tomorrow night. A warehouse is housing several valuable and rare robot parts, and the owner has received an anonymous tipoff that someone is going to try and steal them. He can't spare any security so he's asked us to make sure they don't get away with it. Chase them down and make sure they don't get away. Understand?"

Perry saluted, the gesture a lot sharper this time. Filled with excitement and anticipation, he hopped off his chair and raced to his hovercar.

"Wait, Agent P!"

Perry turned.

"We've supplied you with special transport for this mission."

A circle in the floor turned over, revealing a metal and cool-looking motorbike. Perry stared at it. "No way…!" he gasped in platypus-ese. "This has gotta be ten times cooler than anything Peter's ever driven."

"I don't know what you're saying, but I'm sure you're eager to get going," Major Monogram said with a salute. "Good luck, Agent P."

…

As the getaway truck's headlights swung past him, Perry took off his fedora and replaced it with a helmet. Then he took off down the slope on his motorbike and onto the main road. The driver clearly spotted him in the mirror; the giant donut claw on top of the vehicle swung round and knocked down a pile of metal drums, which Perry managed to avoid.

Perry quickly activated the two lasers on the tail of his bike and cut open the delivery door, revealing the crooks with the metal parts inside. The clever thieves loosened the metal door, which crashed towards Perry. He tried to dodge but the heavy object cut off the end of the tail of his bike.

Swinging round deserted mountain roads now, Perry saw that the sun was coming up. Putting on a burst of speed, he didn't even notice that they had crossed the border into Canada; he was too busy dodging both the donut claw and all the various objects that the two thieves in the back were throwing at him.

Grabbing his grapple gun, Perry shot the line around the middle of the open donut, drove underneath the truck, and pulled hard. The donut followed him under the truck, tipping the whole vehicle. Perry tied his end of the line around his handlebars and turned sideways, trying to bring the van to a stop.

When suddenly, a figure on a motorbike with a helmet on came roaring up beside him. The figure showed him a badge and said in a female voice, "You're outta your jurisdiction, buddy!"

Perry peered at the badge. It said "COWCA Agent" and it had a picture of the Canadian flag on it. It was only then that he realised that they must have crossed the border.

"I'll take it from here, eh?"

The woman had a Canadian accent. She pulled up alongside the truck and took off her helmet, revealing long brown hair in a ponytail down her back. She climbed up the metal pole that the donut claw was attached to, reaching the top of the van. Perry watched her, feeling a lot of mixed emotions: awe, worry, annoyance, hopefulness.

Once she reached the top of the metal pole, it became undone and swung upwards, making the woman give a yelp. Perry slowed down his bike as the claw and donut came flying towards him. "Comin' through!" yelled the woman.

Perry skidded to a stop as the woman ran useless after the van for a few metres before stopping. "Well, there's no catching up to them now."

Perry glared at the woman who had messed up his mission and started up his bike, fully intending to resume the chase, when Perry's bike's side mirror popped up with Major Monogram's face on it. "Agent P. We've just received word that you're on Canadian soil. We don't have jurisdiction there. Stand down. That's an order."

Perry felt incredibly irritated and angry.

"Sorry Agent P, our hands are tied," Carl added.

"Carl, don't interrupt me," snapped Major Monogram. He addressed Perry again: "Return to headquarters pronto."

Perry turned his glare back on the COWCA woman, who smiled sheepishly and shrugged apologetically. "Sorry."

Perry just turned his bike around and silently drove back.

…

Perry, still wearing his helmet, stormed into OWCA HQ, incredibly angry. Pinky the Chihuahua and Terry the Turtle smiled as the platypus came into the office floor, until they noticed the platypus agent's mood. "How'd it go?" Pinky asked.

Perry ripped off his helmet and flung it with all his strength at the wall, shaking the ceiling. "Does that answer your question?" he shouted angrily.

Pinky cowered. "Kinda."

"But what happened?" Terry asked.

"That interfering woman!" Perry yelled, hitting his fist against the table. "If she hadn't let me do my job, I would have caught the bad guys!"

"Hey, whoa!" Pinky caught Perry's fist as the platypus prepared to hit the table again. "Calm down, Perry. I know it's bad that the bad guys got away but is it really something to be worked up over like this?"

"It is when I have a 100% track record but now I DON'T have a 100% track record and Peter's going to be laughing about this from now until Christmas!"

"Is that really what it's about?" Terry asked doubtfully. "Or is it that your ego is damaged because a woman tried to help you on your mission?"

"What?" snapped Perry, swinging round to face his best friend. "What are you on about?"

At that moment, the black and white panda appeared and laughed at Perry. "I can't believe a GIRL showed you up!"

"THAT'S why I'm annoyed." Perry flung his arm out to gesture at Peter.

"Not such a perfect agent now, are you?" sneered Peter.

Perry lunged and slammed Peter against the wall, holding his arm across the panda's neck. "I am in a VERY testy mood right now. I will not hesitate to break the same amount of bones in your body as missions you've beaten me on."

"Isn't that only about four?" Pinky asked nervously from behind Perry.

"Still, I don't think anyone wants ONE broken bone, let alone FOUR," said Terry fairly.

"So I suggest you tell your crowd to leave me alone because I'm supremely angry right now and I can and will take it out on you, got it?"

Peter didn't look scared but he wasn't exactly grinning. "Sure."

Perry flung Peter at the floor and stormed off. Pinky and Terry exchanged a worried look before following. They found Perry in the gym, hitting a punching bag.

"Perry, this isn't going to help," Pinky said.

"It makes me feel better to pretend it's that woman," snarled Perry.

"Perry the Platypus, stop hitting that punching bag right now and listen to us!" shouted Terry suddenly.

This was so unlike the orange turtle that Perry obeyed without a second thought. He frowned at his friends. "What's got into you two?"

"You have to calm down," Pinky said, stroking Perry's arm gently. "I know you're angry, and to be honest, even I would be too."

"But it's done," Terry added. "All you can do now is hope that you'll get a chance in the future to make things right."

Perry nodded and took a deep breath. "Thanks, guys. You're right."

"We're always right," Pinky grinned.

"I won't stop hating that COWCA agent but…" Perry paused. "But I can move past it for now."

What he couldn't have predicted, however, was that just two months later, Lyla Lolliberry would become one of his best human friends.

…

 **BASED ON THE PNF EPISODE "Sidetracked" IN CASE YOU COULDN'T TELL XD XD XD**


	8. The Impossible Team

In the last year, it had become standard practise for all animal agents to wear their proper translators. This was how he was able to respond to Major Monogram's shocking request.

 _"_ _What?"_ he gasped. "Did you just say-?"

"Yes, Agent P," interrupted Major Monogram wearily. "I understand you're surprised and you probably have your reservations, but I believe it will be of great benefit both to you and the trainees."

"But sir, I don't have any experience in teaching!" protested Perry.

"That is exactly why it will be of great benefit to you. They say that if you can't teach it, you don't know it yourself. The best way to learn is to teach. Besides, their scores are great individually but for teamwork…not so much. You're OWCA's top agent. If these trainees have any chance of becoming great agents, it's under your leadership."

Perry sighed and made various frustrated noises until he finally said, "Fine. Now who are these trainees?"

"They're waiting for you in the gym, where you are to have your first session," Major Monogram replied. "However, as they are not full agents, they do not have any kind of translator. I would recommend you leave your proper translator here."

Perry rolled his eyes, took out his translator, and put it in its case, which he then handed to Major Monogram. "Good luck, Agent P."

As Perry traipsed out of the office, he wondered if this was going to be as hard as he thought. Four trainees with no experience out in the field, and he was expected to train them until they were great OWCA agents.

He forced himself to be optimistic as he headed over to the gym. Surely the trainees couldn't be _that_ bad.

When he opened the door to the gym, he found a red bird hanging from her foot from a rope that was tied to the ceiling fan which, thankfully, was not on; a yellow cat was lying on one of the rotors and playing with the rope; and a purple hyena was rolling on the floor, laughing at both of them.

 _Yeah, it's definitely as bad as it looks, Perry._

Frowning, he counted the three of them. Major Monogram had said there were four trainees. There were only three here.

Then he caught sight of the open storage closet door. Avoiding the hysterically laughing hyena, Perry went over to the storage closet and peered in. A human figure was rooting through the crates of various sports balls. His black shirt and green trousers were very familiar to Perry, but it wasn't until the man turned around that the platypus saw his face.

"Hey Perry the Platypus!" Heinz Doofenshmirtz said happily. "You're gonna be training me! How awesome and slightly weird is that?"

Perry couldn't stop staring at his nemesis. _This_ was his fourth trainee?! He had heard that Heinz had joined OWCA—under the technicality that he was legally considered an ocelot—but he had no idea that he was going to have to TRAIN his nemesis!

"Perry the Platypus? Are you okay?"

"Excuse me one moment," squeaked Perry, realising too late that Heinz couldn't understand him.

He staggered back into the hall, completely stunned. He failed to notice the red missile flying at him until it actually hit him, sending both of them bowling over. The bird gave him a sheepish smile. That triggered something in Perry. If he was stuck with training these idiots, he needed to install a sense of discipline into them.

So he took a deep breath and yelled as loudly as he could, "ENOUGH!"

Everybody froze.

"GET INTO LINE! NOW!"

All four of the trainees immediately scrambled into line. Perry paced slowly up and down in front of them like an army commander.

"Okay, as you may or may not know, I'm going to be training you as a team for the next however long it is."

"Uh, Perry the Platypus…? You know I can't understand you, right?"

"DON'T INTERRUPT!" Perry yelled, stabbing his finger in Heinz's face. Well, as close to Heinz's face as he could reach. Even though he couldn't understand the platypus, the former evil scientist got the message and fell silent.

"Now, I'm going to be training you, and I'm not going to go easy on you. The real world is not easy so I won't be either. You'll be treated like real trainees instead of children. If you try as hard as real OWCA agents are expected to, you'll succeed. If you don't, you'll fail. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone nodded except Heinz, who said, "I-I didn't get any of that."

Perry ignored him. "Alright, we're going to start with a simple exercise. I'd like you to get into pairs."

Harry the Hyena glanced at Heinz and then Maggie the Macaw, before taking a couple of deliberate steps until he was standing next to Karen the Cat. Heinz looked down at the tiny macaw, who gave him an equally displeased look back, and sighed. "Great."

"Sit down in front of each other so that you can make eye contact," Perry instructed.

Heinz still couldn't understand Perry but he just copied Harry and Karen, who sat down in front of each other.

"Making eye contact is often difficult for people, as it requires a certain amount of trust and respect. Some people avoid it while others simply aren't very good at it; they may look away often or appear awkward or uncomfortable, sometimes fidgeting. Now, I'm going to time two minutes. You're going to make eye contact for the whole two minutes without looking away."

Even Heinz seemed to get the gist of the exercise. Perry set a two minute timer on his watch. "Three, two, one, go." He started the time.

Immediately, the two pairs stared into each other's eyes. Perry realised too late that he probably should have told them they were allowed to blink.

Karen and Harry seemed to be fine, but then Heinz blinked and rubbed his eyes. Maggie began hovering and pointed her claw jubilantly at Heinz. "You blinked! You blinked!" she crowed.

Perry pinched the bridge of his nose. "This isn't a staring contest, Maggie!" he snapped. "You're just supposed to keep eye contact!"

A crashing sound made him turn. He saw Harry lying on his back with Karen standing on his stomach, her large and unnerving eyes just inches away from Harry's now-thoroughly-creeped-out ones. "Karen, what the heck was that?" Perry groaned aloud.

Heinz said something that Perry couldn't quite hear. A moment later, Maggie angrily flew at Heinz and latched herself onto his face, making him flail and stumble backwards, trying to get her off.

Then Perry turned and found that Harry had somehow kicked Karen back up onto the ceiling fan; the cat was now hanging onto it upside down, the same vacant expression on her face.

"BACK IN LINE!" Perry bellowed.

Heinz, Maggie, and Harry immediately fell into line. A couple of seconds later, Karen fell down from the ceiling fan and landed on her feet.

"That was a disaster," sighed Perry. "None of you tried hard enough. If you don't try, you won't get anywhere. Now if you'll excuse me, training is over for today."

Perry turned and walked towards the door of the gym. "We all need to recover from that session," he muttered on his way out.

 _I'll never be able to change them,_ a voice in his head sighed. _They're lost causes._

"No," Perry said aloud, hopping into the deserted BT gym. "You just have to work with them, that's all. If you give up on them now, they'll never be anything. They need someone to guide them. That person is you. They're going to become great agents someday, and you'll be able to look back on it and say with pride that YOU were the one to turn them into such great agents."

 _You can do it, Perry. You can._


	9. Phineas and Ferb

Perry was not expecting much when he entered the main hall for the OWCA meeting that Major Monogram had called. Besides, it was almost midnight and the only reason everyone was still here was because Major Monogram had made them stay after they all came in during the afternoon that day.

Pinky and Terry were next to Perry as they all sat down. Major Monogram climbed onto the stage and addressed the agents.

"I have a very special announcement," he said. "After much deliberation between myself and the other OWCA leaders, we have decided to amend a certain regulation regarding host families."

 _Oh great,_ sighed Perry. _I dread to think what he could have possibly done to butcher the regulation._

"As it stands, if an agent's host family discovers his or her secret identity, either the agent will be relocated to another family or the hosts must have their memories wiped. However, as of two hours ago, that regulation has been lifted completely."

Shocked and surprised gasps came from the assembled crowd of OWCA agents. Perry himself was stunned into silence. Was this real?

"We have decided that, as long as they are sworn to secrecy, you may reveal your secret identities to your host families, so long as they promise not to tell anybody else. If they do, we will know, and their memories will be wiped."

Whatever Major Monogram said next was lost in the cheers that came from OWCA's agents. Perry couldn't speak for anybody else but he himself felt elated. He could finally reveal his secret identity to Phineas and Ferb! The problem would be their reaction…if it was going to be anything like last time, he was going to have to endure a lot of mental anguish, especially from Phineas. However, if he could somehow sneak his translator home, he could explain to them why he kept his identity a secret.

When Major Monogram dismissed the meeting, Perry was among the first to race out of the room. Pinky was close behind. The Chihuahua stopped the platypus as they got to OWCA's main entrance.

"Are you going to tell Isabella?" Perry asked excitedly.

"No," replied Pinky, thoroughly taking Perry aback.

"What? Why?"

"I don't want to be an agent around her," Pinky explained. "I don't want anything to be different. I just want to get home from work, lie on her lap while she's watching TV or doing her homework, and have her stroke me and scratch me behind the ears. I don't want anything to change."

"Oh…"

Pinky saw Perry's disappointed face. "Oh…were you planning to tell Phineas and Ferb?"

"…yeah. But I understand that Phineas and Ferb would probably tell her, so I won't tell them."

"No, I'll tell Isabella."

Perry stared at his friend, surprised by the Chihuahua's sudden change of heart. "Why? It's no problem."

"But it is," Pinky replied quietly. "You love Phineas and Ferb with all your heart, and I know how much it hurt last time to have their memories wiped of the second dimension adventure. It's not fair on you if you don't get to be with your boys."

"But it's not fair on you if things change when you don't want them to," Perry pointed out.

"I'm sure she won't stop stroking me and scratching me behind the ears," Pinky grinned. "It's fine if things change. I didn't mind either way, really."

"Are you sure?" Perry asked doubtfully. "Because I wouldn't want to-."

"I'm sure," Pinky interrupted, smiling. "You go home and see your boys."

Perry gave Pinky a hug. "Thank you."

…

When Perry got home, he didn't put his fedora away like he normally did. He knew he probably should have for now, but it was VERY early morning and he thought nobody was awake. This turned out to be a mistake.

He got through the pet door and shook himself dry; it was raining outside. He headed on two legs up the stairs, as it was easier than on all fours, but in his hurry, his foot slipped on the last step and he tumbled back down the stairs. They were carpeted, so he didn't really hurt himself, but he crashed into the wall, which made a fairly loud noise. He waited, grimacing, but nobody appeared to hear, so he got up and went back into the kitchen, having forgotten to turn off the light as he came in.

Then he heard a noise on the stairs and turned round to see Phineas and Ferb standing there, staring at him, the latter holding a flashlight.

If this had been even yesterday, Perry would have been devastated. However, he had permission to let them know of his secret identity. It was just ironic that they had AGAIN found out by accident.

"P-Perry?" stammered Phineas. "Wh-why are you wearing a fedora?"

Perry checked that his translator was in, before walking up to the boys. "This may come as a shock, but this translator is allowing me to talk."

Silence followed this. Then Ferb dropped the flashlight in shock.

Phineas suddenly clutched his head. Alarmed that he was about to have a heart attack or seizure or something, Perry approached the boy. "Phin, are you okay?"

"I-I have a really bad headache." Phineas groaned in pain. "Something's coming back to me. Memories."

Perry anxiously watched him, missing the fact that Ferb was also clutching his head. "Memories of what?" Perry asked nervously.

"That day two summers ago…" Phineas closed his eyes. "The second dimension. Nearly falling into a pit of lava. Travelling clockwise round dimensions. Saving the world from an army of robots." Phineas opened his eyes again and stared at Perry. "You being a secret agent."

"So that is where you disappear to everyday," said Ferb's British voice.

"I-I didn't tell you guys. I'm so sorry. It's because-."

"You'd be relocated," Phineas finished. "Don't worry, we remember everything. We're not mad. From what I recall, that's already been let out of my system."

Perry smiled weakly. "Yeah. You really let me have it. I didn't—and still don't—blame you, though. You had the right to be angry."

"We're not now, I promise." Phineas couldn't stop staring at Perry. "I just can't believe you're a secret agent, even though we have these memories back!"

"Don't tell Isabella yet but her dog Pinky is also a secret agent," Perry said.

Phineas and Ferb both stared at him. "Seriously?" Phineas gasped.

Perry nodded. "Remember that day two summers ago where you built that dog sensor after Isabella was worried that Pinky had gone missing? He was on a mission with me. He's actually my best friend at OWCA."

"That's amazing! But wait, so how come you can tell us your identity without being relocated?" Phineas asked.

"The policy was lifted," Perry replied happily. "I don't know why, but all that matters is that it happened."

Phineas let out a muffled laugh of excitement. "Man, imagine how much fun we can have now that we know you're a secret agent!"

"Yes, the next fifteen minutes should be a real hoot," Perry grinned.

Phineas, Ferb, and Perry all laughed quietly, before Phineas said, "You're not serious, right?"

"Of course not. Now let's get you guys back to bed. Tomorrow's going to be a very fun Saturday."


	10. I Don't Want To Say Goodbye

Perry and his team met up back in front of City Hall after their mission. "Good job, team. You just prevented a real life riot from destroying City Hall."

"I never thought we'd have to do something like this in real life," Maggie confessed. "I mean, it was scary enough in the training exercise."

"Rodney's –inator almost destroyed the world," muttered Heinz darkly. "Again."

"I can't believe the machine actually worked," Karen muttered, involuntarily shuddering. Out of the team, she had been the most affected by hundreds of people stampeding towards them, their peaceful demonstration having turned into a full-on riot by Rodney's machine that elevated aggression. Harry put his arm around her and pulled her reassuringly close.

"Well, the effects of his machine have worn off now," Perry said. "I'm sure we'll-." He broke off as he realised Heinz was gone. "Guys, where's Heinz?"

The four of them whirled round in search of their friend.

"He was very angry at Rodney," whispered Karen.

"Everybody, fan out and find him!" ordered Perry, his heart beginning to pound. "Quickly!"

Maggie took to the skies. Harry and Karen ran off in opposite directions. Perry was about to run off and look himself, when he caught sight of his former nemesis, who was climbing up the metal structure on top of City Hall. He heard Heinz's mutter over the radio: "No more Rodney. One blast and no more Rodney."

"Heinz, what on Earth do you think you're doing?" Perry demanded, watching his nemesis climb the structure until he was at the top.

"Climbing," Heinz replied.

"Come down!"

"No, Perry the Platypus. I don't think you realise what this evil man did."

"You were evil too, once!" Perry yelled up to him. "Just come down!"

"He almost killed the world several times. He needs to be taught a lesson. One that he'll never forget."

Perry was terrified. Heinz had gone completely insane! The way he was talking was absolutely terrifying. The quirky, weird yet loveable, and all-round harmless former evil scientist had turned into a cold, unforgiving monster.

"You're going to KILL him! He won't be able to remember the lesson because he'll be DEAD!"

"He deserves it."

"He doesn't deserve it!" Perry shouted, desperately trying to get his former nemesis to listen. "No matter what he's done, nobody deserves being blown to pieces! You're just being selfish and arrogant, believing that you need to kill Rodney in order to keep your ego intact. It doesn't matter what he's done, killing Rodney is not the right way!"

"No more radio contact."

"No, HEINZ!"

But Heinz had cut off the radio contact. "He's going to launch a missile!" Perry yelled desperately into his headset. "You have to get up there and stop him! Somebody, anybody!"

But it was too late. Heinz pressed the button and the missile fired. The next second, Perry saw Maggie fly into the path of the missile and then there was a massive explosion.

"MAGGIE!" screamed Perry, and he also heard Harry and Karen scream their friend's name too.

Perry felt like HE had been the one to get struck in the chest by the missile. He desperately searched the air, searching for any sign that she was okay. But Perry knew that she was gone. Nothing could have survived a missile like that as such close range. A sob welled up in Perry's throat and almost every organ he had was aching.

Heinz's scream made Perry look up. His former nemesis had fallen off City Hall. "Harry, the hovercar!" Perry yelled, flinging his arm up to point at his falling friend.

Understanding, Harry leapt into the hovercar and flew towards Heinz. Perry prayed the hyena would make it. As soon as Harry caught the former evil scientist's leg, Perry relaxed slightly and let his grief show in the form of a waterfall of tears for Maggie. Then Heinz landed by Perry's feet, and the platypus was slightly comforted to see that Heinz was also grieving.

"Why did he save me?" Heinz croaked without looking up.

"I told him to."

Heinz then looked up at Perry, who turned away so Heinz couldn't see his tears. "B-but why? I killed Maggie!"

"I didn't want to lose another friend," Perry replied quietly.

…

Perry lay across two chairs outside Major Monogram's office, listening to the major yelling at Heinz. They had been in there for little over half an hour, but Perry wasn't really paying attention to what was being said. His tears had dried up, leaving a numb feeling in his brain and heart, neither of which wanted to accept this. He didn't want to accept that Maggie was gone.

But the part of him that did recognise it offered a small comfort: Maggie had died saving somebody's life. Though that comfort practically extinguished itself when he remembered that it was RODNEY whom Maggie had died saving, of all the people she could have saved. He found himself cursing Maggie's golden heart.

When the door opened, Perry looked up and saw Heinz, fedora-less, storming through. Perry decided to give him some space, but after ten minutes or so, he felt worried about how his friend was doing so he headed over to Heinz's OWCA room. Heinz was just leaving, suitcase in hand. Perry watched him leave and then he went into Heinz's old room, which had been cleared of all personal stuff, apart from a photo on the floor. It was a photo of Heinz, Maggie, Harry, and Karen on their graduation day. They were all smiling, clutching their brand new fedoras with the black hat bands.

Perry clutched the photo tightly and sank to his knees, feeling the tears overwhelming him for the first time since returning to OWCA.

 _I-I don't want to say goodbye! Oh Maggie…WHY did you have to be so selfless? It hurts! It hurts so much! I can't deal with losing you! I really cared about you. M-maybe I even loved you…and now you're gone. I won't ever see you again!_

 _It's all your fault, Heinz. WHY didn't you listen to me? Firing a missile at Rodney?! And now you're going to have to live with the fact that you killed Maggie._

 _You killed Maggie._

…

 ***le gasp* PERRY LOVED MAGGIE?! Answer: perhaps. But Maggie's gone :( and if you're reading this, you must have read the other stories, but anyway we know Perry finds love, don't we? He finds Priya! And Priya helps him fill the Maggie-sized hole in poor Perry's heart :'(**


	11. Enemies Become Friends

**Last chapter :(**

…

"I wish I had a girlfriend," sighed Pinky. "I know that sounds quite sad and I know I have you and Terry for my friends but I don't like being alone in love, know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Perry said absently, scowling out Pinky's office.

"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"

"Yeah," Perry replied absently. "Wait, what?"

Pinky sighed. "What are you scowling at?"

"Peter," Perry said sullenly. "He's standing by the water cooler with Terry, who was supposed to be in here chatting with us half an hour ago. Peter's deliberately keeping Terry away from us." Perry narrowed his eyes. "He's the king of petty."

"Why can't you just work it out with him?" sighed Pinky. "It's becoming annoyed."

"Tell HIM to work it out," snapped Perry.

"That doesn't even make sense."

"I don't care. He stole my nemesis."

"That was two years ago, you need to let that go."

"I'll let it go when he apologises for it."

Pinky slapped Perry's arm, causing the platypus to jump. "What was that for?" he yelped.

"You need to sort it out," snapped Pinky. "I'm not going to hang out with you until you do. It's silly and childish. I understood your grudge when it was relevant, but it's been TWO years. You HAVE to let that go. Okay?"

"Fine," muttered Perry, though he had no intention of letting it go until Peter apologised for it.

That was why he was dismayed when, later that day, Major Monogram announced he was sending Peter and Perry on a mission together.

"You can _not_ be serious!" spluttered Perry as Peter watched him with an equally dismayed look on his face. "There is NO way I'm working with him! You KNOW he stole my nemesis two years ago!"

"Well, I was a little busy being frozen like a statue that day," said Major Monogram frostily.

This made an uncomfortable and awkward silence descend on the room. Peter took over the complaint: "Sir, he hates me and I don't like him."

"Why?" inquired Major Monogram amiably.

Peter stared at Major Monogram. "What?"

"Why don't you like him? He has a good reason to dislike you but why don't you like him?"

Peter dropped his gaze uncomfortably. "N-no reason."

"Then I won't take your complaint into account," Major Monogram said, shuffling papers on his desk.

Perry stared at Peter uncomfortably as the panda wrestled with his brain for a moment, before stepping back in defeat. "Fine."

"Regardless of your feelings towards each other, I need you to go on this mission together. I need you two to infiltrate LOVEMUFFIN's old lair and make sure there's no trace of them left. There will almost certainly be traps and tricks so that's why I need you two to go. Your skillsets work best together for this mission and you're both very alert agents. I know you won't let me down."

Major Monogram gave them a steely look. Both agents felt like arguing but they kept silent, both of them recognising that it wouldn't do any good.

…

"This place is creepy," stated Perry as they edged cautiously into the stone entrance hall that resembled the inside of an old temple.

"Well, that's something you and it have in common," Peter muttered.

Perry ignored it. He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself as they walked further in. "Man, it's cold in here."

"Yet another thing you and it have in common."

Perry gave him an unimpressed look. "Not helpful. Just keep your eye out for any traps."

"Why, don't you have eyes?" muttered Peter.

" _What_ is your _problem?"_ snapped Perry. "I'm trying to be professional but I can't when you're being so annoying! What do you have against me?"

"You know why I don't like you," Peter said sullenly.

All of a sudden, Peter felt himself stand on a loose tile. The floor suddenly opened up beneath them and sent them falling. It was only thirty or so metres but Perry landed on his leg, instantly breaking it with a horrible cracking sound. For a whole five minutes while Peter radioed for help, Perry lay on his back, shaking and yelping with the pain from his leg.

"We need to go outside for help," Peter said, before he spotted Perry on the floor. "Come on, it can't be that bad."

"I'VE BROKEN MY LEG!" shrieked Perry. "IT IS THAT BAD!"

"Calm down," snapped Peter. "And stop whining."

"I'VE BROKEN MY LEG!" Perry yelled again. "I THINK I HAVE A RIGHT TO WHINE!"

"Seriously, you need to get up and we need to get moving. I don't care that you've broken your leg."

"Why do you hate me so much?" hollered Perry through the pain. "WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU?!"

"It's because you're a show-off!" Peter burst out suddenly. "It's because you're so great at everything and you tell everybody so! You make the rest of us look like idiots and you never apologise for it!"

"That sounds an awful lot like petty jealousy to me," Perry commented irritably. "Is that why you dislike me: because I'm better than you?"

"No, it's because I had to work hard to get to the top and in just two weeks, you undid all my hard work and made it to OWCA's best agent without even trying," snarled Peter.

"So you decide to steal my nemesis to make up for it?" Perry yelled, though he had to stop talking as fresh pain shot through his injured leg.

"As much as I would like to say I stole your nemesis out of sheer spite, the truth is that I didn't even know Doofenshmirtz was your nemesis when I met him in Seattle. I assumed he didn't HAVE a nemesis."

"But you still must have found out that I was his nemesis at SOME point," Perry said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, but only then did it become revenge," Peter replied. "Only when I got back to Danville did I realise that you were his nemesis, but my brain figured that this was the perfect opportunity to hurt you, as you hurt me."

 _"_ _As you hurt me."_

The words echoed in Perry's head. He knew he hadn't meant to hurt Peter, but it occurred to him then just how much he had hurt the panda. Perhaps it was his woozy, pain-wracked brain talking (he had hit his head on the landing too), but he felt the overwhelming desire to apologise, so he did.

"Pete…I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I didn't mean to steal your show but I should have been more considerate of your feelings. I just loved the power that came with being OWCA's best. With everybody respecting and liking you. I should have realised how hard you worked to get where I got to with barely any work. I-I'm really sorry."

Peter paused. Perry watched him anxiously through his own pain, waiting to see what the panda would say. "The power of being OWCA's top agent is definitely addictive," Peter said eventually. "I don't blame you for wanting more."

"I still should have realised that you-."

"Hey, at one point, I forgot about my own girlfriend with the promise of the power of OWCA's best," Peter interrupted. "It's fine."

"I just…I would love to be friends with you," Perry admitted. "You're talented and skilled and basically an all-round perfect OWCA agent. I feel like I could learn a lot from you."

Peter, blushing slightly at the praise, said, "Well, I'd personally really like for you to teach me how to do Double Dutch as well as you."

"If we become friends, I'll teach you Double Dutch."

"Deal." Peter grinned. "Now let's get out of here, shall we, Perry?"

"Love to," Perry said, wincing as more pain shook through his leg when he tried to move it. "But I can't even stand, let alone walk."

Peter slung Perry's arm over his shoulder and helped him stand up, to several yells of pain from the platypus. "Isn't this just going to make it worse?" panted Perry.

"We don't have a choice, unfortunately." Now Peter's voice was full of sympathy. "We have to meet the rescue team outside."

Peter and Perry made their slow way through the tunnel, back towards where the entrance was. Perry kept wincing in pain as he hobbled. He let out a louder yelp as he felt his injured leg press a loose tile down. Peter was the only one to notice the wall tile sliding away.

"Perry!"

Peter shoved Perry to the ground just as a dart was fired from behind the wall. It hit the panda in the chest. Perry watched in pain and horror as Peter collapsed backwards. "Pete!"

But the pain was getting too much for Perry, and he blacked out.

…

When Perry woke up, he sat bolt upright. To his surprise, he couldn't feel his leg. When he saw what had happened to it, he understood why: it was in a cast, and he was in hospital. Sitting next to his bed was a rather pale Pinky the Chihuahua, whose face flooded with colour when he saw that Perry was awake.

"So how did the mission go?" he inquired.

Perry made a face. "Not bad," he said. "There was just the downside of breaking my leg." He suddenly panicked, remembering the events just before he had passed out. "Pete! Where's Peter?"

"Perry, calm down." Pinky placed his paws on Perry's shoulders and gently made the platypus lie back down. "He was hit with a dart that had a poison in it but Apollo got the poison out easily. He's going to be fine."

"He saved me," Perry said.

Pinky frowned. "I thought you hated each other? Wait, did you call him Pete earlier?"

"We made up. We admitted to each other why we disliked each other, and we decided we'd rather be friends than dislike each other."

"Told ya," grinned Pinky. "Anyway, you'd better get some rest."

"Wait, how long was I out?"

"Only a few hours," replied Pinky. "But Apollo said you need to rest. You hit your head quite hard too."

"Yeah," Perry said, remembering. "I'll rest. Thanks for coming to see me."

"Anytime," smile Pinky, getting up. "By the way, Major Monogram wanted me to tell you something," he added. "He's sending the four of us—you, me, Terry, and Peter—away, starting on the first of next month so that you guys have time to heal."

"Away where?" asked Perry.

"On a training retreat in Canada."

…

 **Great place to finish the story, eh? Thanks for reading! :D**


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